Areva to Buy Solar Thermal Startup Ausra
By Katie Fehrenbacher Feb. 8, 2010
French power giant Areva says it’s agreed to buy solar thermal startup Ausra. Back in November there were several media reports that said Ausra was in talks to be acquired by one of three companies, and it looks like Areva won the deal. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.
Areva, which has a large nuclear portfolio, says it will use the Ausra acquisition to become “the world leader in concentrated solar power,” and will sell solar thermal tech to utilities and independent power producers. Solar thermal technology uses mirrors and lenses to concentrate the sun rays to power turbines, and utilities have been turning to it in droves as of late.
During 2009 Ausra changed its strategy from looking to build and operate its own solar thermal power plants to providing its equipment to solar power producers. Building and operating these solar power plants would have taken a ton of financing, which, in a hard economy, would have proven to be a difficult route. Proof of that came at the end of last year when Ausra announced that it will sell its Carrizo Energy Solar Farm Project, a proposed 177MW project still under development in San Luis Obispo, Calif., to industry thin-film solar giant First Solar. And in September Ausra said it had been chosen to provide its equipment for a 100MW concentrated solar thermal power project being developed in Ma’an, Jordan.
When Ausra’s acquisition talks emerged in the media, Katherine Potter, its VP of communications, told us: “As our recent string of announcements have shown, our business strategy of focusing on being a solar steam systems provider is working and producing results.”
Ausra’s investors include KLEINER PERKINS, KHOSLA VENTURES, Al GORE’s GENERATION INVESTMENT, Alberta, Canada-based KERN Partners and Melbourne, Australia-based STARFISH VENTURES. The 4-year-old company has raised around $130 million to date. I’ll do more digging, but I think this is the first (or one of the first) exits for Kleiner Perkins in the cleantech market.
Areva will have to compete in an increasingly crowded market including eSolar, BrightSource, Infinia (which is raising $75 million) and Stirling Energy. The acquisition is expected to close in the next couple of months and is subject to regulatory approval.
http://gigaom.com/cleantech/areva-to-buy-solar-thermal-startup-ausra/
Ausra was founded in 2006 and sold to AREVA for around $400 million. AREVA was granted a conditional guaranteed loan for $2 billion on May 10, 2010. No surprise that Khosla brought in Tony Blair. Blackrock is somehow in the middle of it though haven’t seen their name crop up - yet.
Kleiner-Perkins-Caufield-Byers:
http://www.muckety.com/Kleiner-Perkins-Caufield-Byers/5001073.muckety
AREVA lobbying:
http://www.implu.com/lobby_client/13125
Areva Capital Increase Approved
Published Friday, December 24, 2010
Shareholders in the French nuclear energy group Areva have approved a €900-million ($1.2-billion) capital increase, the company said in a statement. (around the same amount the DOE handed to them in May 2010.)
The increase, approved on Thursday, includes a €600-million investment by the Kuwait Investment Authority.
The Kuwaiti sovereign fund will acquire a 4.8 per cent stake in Areva, becoming the company’s third largest shareholder, after the French atomic energy agency and the government.
STANDARD AND POOR’s warned earlier this month that it would likely downgrade France’s state-owned nuclear services group as the €900 million in fresh capital was significantly less than it had expected.
However, the French government has said that Areva’s sale of non-strategic assets had, along with the capital increase, raised €6.3 billion in funds to invest in the company’s development.
http://www.emirates247.com/business/corporate/areva-capital-increase-approved-2010-12-24-1.333477
Europe is broke because of these crooks and liars, and as we’re probably the only country left to have a few dollars of our own, ie, pensions and 401k’s. they won’t rest until they get their hands on it.
The talks between AREVA and Ausra began in November 2009. November 2009 Jonathan Silver was appointed to head up the Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program. Febuary 2010 they closed the deal. May 2010 they (AREVA) got a $2 billion deal. A coincidence?
“Jonathon Silver was an adviser to the secretaries of Commerce, Interior and Treasury under president Bill Clinton. Silver started his career at consulting firm McKinsey, which also produced DOE senior adviser Matt Rogers... Check out another partner at Core - Wheeler, fundraiser for Obama and follow an investment sourcefire”:
http://www.muckety.com/Jonathan-Silver/13148.muckety
Some of the DOE Staff:
Steve Isakowitz current relationships:
U.S. Department of Energy - chief financial officer
Steve Isakowitz past relationships:
Booz Allen Hamilton - senior consultant
Central Intelligence Agency - senior intelligence officer
Lockheed Martin Corporation - corporate manager
National Aeronautics and Space Administration - deputy chief financial officer
U.S. Office of Management and Budget - policy analyst
http://www.muckety.com/Steve-Isakowitz/164049.muckety
Steven E. Koonin current relationships:
Barack Obama administration - Energy under secretary
U.S. Department of Energy - under secretary of science
Steven E. Koonin past relationships:
BP Amoco, p.l.c. - senior scientist
California Institute of Technology - provost
Council on Foreign Relations - member
http://www.muckety.com/Steven-E-Koonin/166351.muckety
Daniel B. Poneman current relationships:
Barack Obama administration - deputy secretary of Energy
U.S. Department of Energy - deputy secretary
Daniel B. Poneman past relationships:
Aspen Strategy Group - member
Hogan & Hartson – partner (Sandy Berger heads or headed the International Division)
National Security Council - nonproliferation expert
Scowcroft Group – principal
http://www.muckety.com/Daniel-B-Poneman/165627.muckety
http://www.muckety.com/Scowcroft-Group/5015761.muckety
Catherine Radford Zoi current relationships:
Barack Obama administration - assistant energy secretary
U.S. Department of Energy - assistant secretary for energy efficiency
Catherine Radford Zoi past relationships:
William J. Clinton administration - White House environmental adviser
http://www.muckety.com/Catherine-Radford-Zoi/104370.muckety
http://www.demconwatchblog.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=326
Cathy Zoi is a Managing Director at Silver Lake Kraftwerk, Silver Lake’s investment strategy focused on providing capital to business innovators in the energy and resource sectors. Ms. Zoi has over two decades of experience in energy policy, energy-focused private organizations and serving on boards and advisory committees in the clean technology sector. Ms. Zoi was Acting Under Secretary for Energy and Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy; founding CEO of Vice President Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection; Chief of Staff in the White House Office on Environmental Policy in the Clinton administration; and a manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she pioneered the Energy Star Program.
http://event.gigaom.com/greennet/speakers/#cathy_zoi